Welcome back to Tuscany Month, featuring another chunk of the Lost Tuscany Text, this time about Colle di Val d’Elsa, that didn’t make it into the totally redesigned 2010 Lonely Planet Tuscany & Umbria. Most visitors to Colle di Val d’Elsa are simply changing buses en route to Volterra. However,…

Today’s Tuscany Month excitement highlights my favorite scenic/interesting drive in the region. Probably my favorite new feature in the 2010 Lonely Planet Tuscany & Umbria are all the numerous driving tours we added. In some cases we just took a logical grouping of villages that were already listed in the…

Welcome back to Tuscany Month, featuring another chunk of the Lost Tuscany Text, this time about San Quirico d’Orcia, that didn’t make it into the totally redesigned 2010 Lonely Planet Tuscany & Umbria. Although extremely atmospheric and featuring some good value eating and sleeping, San Quirico, by Tuscany standards, is…

Listing the best cheap eats in Tuscany might be my favorite Tuscany Month post. Having now completed two Tuscany guidebook projects for Lonely Planet, I’m feeling emboldened to share some authoritative opinions about the area. My biggest fixation is how one might enjoy a first-rate Tuscan experience without having to…

Welcome back to Tuscany Month, featuring another chunk of the Lost Tuscany Text, this time about Pope Pius II, that didn’t make it into the totally redesigned 2010 Lonely Planet Tuscany & Umbria. This text is from a pop-up box I wrote about Pius for the previous Tuscany & Umbria…

Tuscany Month continues with my on-the-ground, personally researched list of the best cheap hotels in Tuscany. The Sleeping listings were one of the hardest hit sections in the beautifully crafted 2010 edition of Lonely Planet Tuscany & Umbria and with online accommodation booking making this section almost obsolete, it’s easy…

Welcome to the first of many Tuscany posts in the month of January, marking the release of a heartbreaking work of guidebooking genius, the 2010 edition of Lonely Planet Tuscany & Umbria. I don’t normally make such a big deal about the release of my guidebooks, but this particular guidebook…

I’ve noticed a disconcerting trend lately. And by “disconcerting,” I mean annoying. To me. Honestly, this isn’t normally a difficult thing to accomplish, but this particular situation has gotten so out of control in the past year that it warrants both comment and mocking. Lately, when it comes time for…